Luke Evans Set to Lead 'Dracula'

April 09, 2013 09:18:59 GMT

The 'Fast and Furious 6' villain is tapped to play the legendary king of the vampires in the Gary Shore-directed horror thriller.

Photo credit: Lia Toby/WENN

Luke Evans will be featured in Universal's upcoming dramatic horror film. The "Immortals" star is confirmed to join the cast ensemble of "Dracula", which previously went by the name of "Dracula Year Zero". In the film, Evans will portray the legendary king of the vampires.

The story of the thriller follows Prince Vlad, the inspiration for the Dracula character popularized by the Bram Stoker novel. When his family is threatened by a bloodthirsty sultan, he sacrifices his soul in order to save them and thus becomes the world's first vampire.

Produced by Michael De Luca, the film will mark the directorial debut of its helmer Gary Shore. Alissa Phillips is executive producing the project, which is penned by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. It is expected to begin its production later this year.

The project initially tapped Sam Worthington as the lead actor and Alex Proyas as the director. However, the plans were immediately scrapped because of budgetary concerns. After Shore was on board the project, Tom Hardy was once considered to lead the film before Evans eventually won the role because of his impressive acting as Owen Shaw in "Fast and Furious 6".

In addition to the sixth installment of the "Fast and Furious" franchise which is set for a May 24 release in the U.S., the Welsh actor will next be seen in "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" which will arrive in theaters across the nation on December 13.